The sugar trade’s bitter legacy, constructed on slavery, exploitation and environmental injury, continues to be resonating right this moment.
Sugar is good, seductive, addictive – however constructed on human struggling. This two-part collection reveals how an attractive luxurious grew to become the engine of a world system powered by slavery, exploitation and environmental destruction, a legacy nonetheless shaping the world right this moment.
From the Nineteenth-century slave plantations to trendy refineries within the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Reunion, India, South Africa and Europe, the collection traces how sugar fuelled colonial empires, drove among the worst facets of worldwide commerce and commerce, and left deep social and ecological scars which are nonetheless current in labour abuses and exhausted landscapes right this moment.
Combining highly effective testimony, uncommon archival materials, knowledgeable interviews, and on-the-ground reporting, the collection exposes the true value of our centuries-long obsession with sugar, whereas on the similar time spotlighting communities combating to reclaim land, dignity and truthful technique of manufacturing.
The collection asks an important query: have we ever actually escaped the bitter curse behind the world’s sweetest commodity?
Printed On 15 Apr 2026
